"Get Out of Jail for Swede" Card

Swedes may have similar physical attributes – blue eyes, fair complexion, blond hair, tall, funky glasses, etc., but that doesn’t mean that they all look alike . . . or does it? Police in Sweden have issued an international warrant for a man’s arrest for paying a friend to serve his jail sentence for him, putting a whole new meaning on the phrase, “You do the crime, you pay the time.” The 37-year-old man, who is believed to be hiding out in the Philippines, was found guilty in 2008 of several charges including copyright violation and smuggling goods. For the crimes he was sentenced to one year in Swedish prison, which I can imagine is similar to a low budget sleep away camp.

However, like most criminals, he didn’t really want to go jail. Then again, who would? Instead he paid a friend to serve the time for him as he used his smuggling skills to abscond to Asia. And he would have gotten away with it, too, if it hadn’t been for those meddling kids, I mean, that one police officer who realized the wrong guy was locked up after he went to the prison to question the man convicted.

Maybe the man should have gone a step further and found a friend that at least looked like him. Or he should have committed the crime in China, because not surprisingly this type of thing is common practice there. If you can afford it, you can hire a ding to pay for your zui (ding = substitute and zui = crime). But then again, most Asians look alike so it probably isn’t that hard for them to find a convincing body double. Am I right or am I right?

Guest post by Jeana Brookes, a law enthusiast and avid blogger. She may or may not be Swedish and/or Asian. Read more of her material at Modern-Parents.com.

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